(Newser)
– New Jersey teachers are furious at the state’s implementation of vaccines, which give priority to smokers over educators. Now that some 300,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine have been administered to front-line health workers, long-term care home residents, police officers and firefighters, New Jersey has begun offering vaccines to anyone 65 years old. or more, to anyone with pre-existing conditions, and to the wrath of teachers: everyone who smokes. “Smoking poses a significant risk of having an adverse COVID-19 outcome,” State Department of Health State Commissioner Judy Persichilli told NJ.com, reporting that there are 2 million smokers between the ages of 16 and 64 in the state. For some teachers, this seems to reward a bad habit. For them, smoking is optional, but it is not endangering their health to return to the classroom.
“I think the prioritization of smokers as a group has insulted educators” and “[we’re] rather outraged, “Susan McBride, president of the Bergen County Education Association, told NJ.com. She says Wednesday’s expansion of the launch was especially damaging as teachers” made us believe we were imminent in the vaccine receptor hierarchy. Anthony Rosamilia, president of the Essex County Education Association, says not only teachers are upset. The “general public is not happy” that a person’s dangerous habit (reading addiction) makes them eligible for a vaccine before someone decides not to. It smokes, he says. But experts say it’s a smart decision if the goal is to reduce hospitalizations and health officials don’t back down. “Our goal is to save as many lives as possible, “says a Health Department representative, according to NBC New York. (Read more New Jersey stories.)